There was some surface rust forming on the bearing lobes on my new compcams camshaft. No pitting or severe rusting going on however when I cleaned the rust off using denature alcohol and a very fine steel wool pad, then buffed the areas with a dremel buffing attachment the sreas that were rusted still remained stained a blackish color although the surface itself is perfectly smooth.

Please tell me this thing is still usable...

 

aslong as you didnt take off alot of metal, look up the specs of the cam, and pull out your vernier caliper and measure it to make sure its still to spec

 

On the journals, or on the lobes?

 

What type of camshaft are we talking about?
flat tappets, on the lobes, should be a black color. It's the surface treating. Rollers, and flat tappets on the bearing journals should be shiny silver.

 

Were talking a flat tappet and It's on the journals.

The rest of the camshaft is fine since the journals are the only unfinished part. Sorry for being vague on the details.
But yes. 3 out of 5 journals had surface rust forming on them. the two end journals being the worst and one of the middle journals just having a "fine mist" of surface rust. I managed to get all of this rust off by buffing with a dremel buffing wheel attachment and then rubbing for a very short period of time with a fine steel wool pad and denatured alcohol. Mind you we are not talking anywhere near new finish or resurface polish here. Just a sort of spruce up existing surface polish.

Like I said all the rust is gone but the areas that did have it are stained a light black color.

Is this thing still usable? Do you guys need any pictures?

 

If it was on a new cam, I would have returned it, but it shouldn't cause any problems.